THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING

THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Scares are back in style this Halloween as marketers pump up the ghoulishness quotient.

By Nat Ives

Published: October 14, 2003

MARKETERS are again grappling with the best tone to strike in Halloween advertising, but seem to have agreed that this year there is nothing for them to fear but missed sales.

As has been true since real-life terror arrived on Sept. 11, 2001, advertisers' and consumers' attitudes toward fantasy frights this Halloween are serving as a Rorschach test for the country, marketing consultants say.

''It's back to scary and ghoulish,'' said Candace Corlett, a partner with WSL Strategic Retail, a New York consulting firm. ''It just goes to show you how fleeting the emotional impact of such trauma can be.''

Dr. Robert K. Passikoff, president at Brand Keys in New York, a brand and customer-loyalty consulting company, agreed. ''It's not going to be as kind and gentle a Halloween as it was the past couple of years,'' he said. ''You'll see a lot more of the reverting back to horror and monsters and less of doctors, nurses, firemen and policemen.''

''It's the first time you'll have seen it since 2001,'' Dr. Passikoff added.

That year, marketers reined in the ghouls and gore in their advertising and products. Even last year, as memories of the attacks were becoming less raw for many Americans, the sniper killings in the Washington area were a reminder that horror could return at any time. Marketers continued to strike a softer Halloween tone, eager to preserve spending on a holiday that totals about $7 billion annually, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group.

But this fall the biggest domestic news stories have dealt with matters political, as in the California recall election, or pop, as in the relationship between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, collectively referred to as Bennifer.

As a result, consultants said, marketers feel more comfortable selling products like the Tormented Zombie sold at Spencer Gifts, the retail chain. The Zombie is a three-dimensional figure that screams and lifts its head off its shoulders when it detects motion nearby.

''In 2001, certainly there was reservation about the items that were shown,'' said Cheryl Wilson, customer development director at Spencer Gifts in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. ''Displays were adjusted. But this year we're full-blown Halloween.''

Perhaps the most vivid reflection of the fluctuating national mood has come in ad campaigns for Halloween events at the Universal Orlando Resort, part of Vivendi Universal. In 2001, its promotions were tweaked to make them more cartoonish.

By last year, Universal Orlando's Halloween commercials showed grisly images from the laboratory of a mad scientist.

But the 2003 campaign shook off any lingering hesitation about confronting consumers with terror. Universal Orlando and its agency, David and Goliath in Los Angeles, turned out commercials that resembled snuff films, which purport to show tapes of actual deaths.

One spot shows a man strapped down in a bathtub filled with water. A sadistic director films the man's desperate gyrations; a hand flips the switch on an electric breaker; a scream is heard. In another, the director fixes hooks to the corners of a clown's mouth to stretch his smile at least as wide as is humanly possible.

The campaigns appeal to a specific target audience of young people thirsty for a good scare, said David Angelo, chairman and chief creative officer at David and Goliath.

Moreover, Mr. Angelo said, the trauma of Sept. 11 created a need not just to feel secure but to feel normal. ''Halloween has always been part of our lives,'' he said. ''Take away that and then you're really going to be living under a shell.''

Chris Riddle, the resident ''Halloween Guy'' at American Greetings, the greeting card company, said traditional Halloween spookiness had a place now, even if a different one from that of recent years.

''We have homeland security and economic issues right now,'' said Mr. Riddle, a senior creative consultant at American Greetings in Cleveland. ''But they're in the back of your mind and you want Halloween to take a break from them.''

Ms. Corlett, the retail consultant, said that any urge among consumers to let loose might be matched by a hunger for the start of the holiday season, with its connotations of family and home.

''There's just this anxiousness to get the holiday season started,'' she said. ''It's just a nice three-month respite where the focus is on celebrating and family and less on world events.''

Marketers are not likely to forget the friendly, family side of Halloween. Much as adult costume parties are a blessing to liquor and beer retailers, the growing family and home decoration elements are increasing sales; the National Retail Federation ranks Halloween as the second-biggest decorating ''season'' after the winter holidays.

Tom Williams, a spokesman at Wal-Mart Stores in Bentonville, Ark., said that its Halloween circulars and in-store promotions increasingly promoted home décor and crafts items with a harvest theme.

''It gives us a much longer selling range, into November,'' said Mr. Williams. As for toning down the gore, Wal-Mart has had fewer decisions to make because it always shied away from the bloodiest masks and costumes, he said.

Campaigns aimed at families or younger children continue to use Halloween to market gentle fare. The Hallmark Channel, for instance, is planning a 16-episode marathon of ''The Addams Family'' episodes. The Bronx Zoo in New York is advertising a ''Boo at the Zoo'' day with the theme ''Have a hoot with family fun.'' The Sears, Roebuck & Company Web site advertises costumes that are strictly the stuff of fantasy, like Harry Potter and the Care Bears.

Burger King's Halloween promotions center around cute hamster action figures from ''Hamtaro,'' a Japanese cartoon shown on the Cartoon Network.

And some marketers are playing both sides: The Happy Meal promotions at McDonald's allow children to choose from Madame Alexander dolls, some in pumpkin or leopard Halloween costumes, or Stretch Screamers, toys that include a disfigured mummy.

One suggestion for Halloween marketers looking to bridge the gap between pop culture costumery and freak-show frights: how about a Bennifer mask?

Photo: In a commercial for Halloween events at the Universal Orlando Resort, a director films torture sessions. In 2001, the resort's ads were softened.